Published 11:55 pm, Sunday, April 7, 2013

Members of the City Council agreed Thursday to provide a forgivable loan to the agency so that it can remain solvent through the summer while officials re-brand the center as a multicultural organization.

Center Executive Director Ingrid Alvarez-DiMarzo said during Thursday's meeting the agency has planned for some time to expand its operations to serve western Connetcicut's wider multicultural community.

"We are hoping to assume the role of the western Connecticut multicultural center," she said.

Mayor Mark Boughton, late in the meeting, added an agenda item requesting a $25,000 forgivable loan to the center to keep it going through July 1.

Alvarez-DiMarzo said the "without-cause" cancelation of its contract last year with the Community Action Committee of Danbury, the region's anti-poverty agency, led to a cash shortage that threatened to close the doors.

Officials with the CACD have been on the hot seat for months after a third-party report commissioned by the state Department of Social Services that called for a reorganization of CACD, including a new board of directors and a new executive director.

The CACD came under fire after a federal report several years ago cited alleged mismanagement at the organization that resulted in the misappropriation of federal stimulus dollars.

"I realize this is last minute, but this is something we have to handle," Boughton said Thursday about requesting the loan.

Boughton said that despite "significant challenges" faced by the center after the canceled contract, Alvarez-DiMarzo, "has done a remarkable job keeping the doors open."

Alvarez-DiMarzo said the Hispanic Center has continued to provide services, including translation for the city's police department.

Despite several recent fundraisers, the agency needs more money to make it through to the summer, Boughton said, adding that this might be "the best time for an evolution of the center."

Councilman Warren Levy said the CACD's actions have been "shameful," and that the DSS-commissioned report "determined they were dysfunctional."

Councilman Duane Perkins, however, said he had a difficult time determining "what is fact and fiction" concerning the CACD.

Council Minority Leader Tom Saadi said while lots of issues surround the CACD, "this funding is not about that. This is not about taking sides or making any conclusions. This is about providing essential services to the community."